The Dark Side of Football

Football in England has long been held up as an example to the world. Maybe not for its quality but its sheer money  making potential. It has been shown to be a modern game shaking of the old style management of the 70's and 80's to become a modern sport which corresponds with the stadiums that it is generally played in.

Football is actually not the different animal that it was in the 70's and 80's. This has been shown by the conviction by the FA of Liverpool player Suarez and the impending  trial of the England Captain John Terry. The major concern for me has been the attitude to some within football usually ex pro's. They have been apologising dramatically for the behaviour of these  players.

The apologists are in denial about the state of their game a quarter of players are black yet there are only two black coaches. Only one Asian  footballer in all 92 professional clubs and not one gay footballer. These are not statistics any modern organisation would like never mind the national game.

2003-RIP

From world champions to champions of farce via a final appearance.What has gone wrong with English rugby? Is English rugby all bad. Like any difficult situation English rugby cannot see the wood for the trees. The world cup was that bad that there has been no talk of redeeming features for England, no shoots of recovery, just a mess. However anyone who has studied science will tell you that a negative result is still a result. So what have we learnt from the mess.

1. Martin Johnson was the greatest captain England has known but the transition to manager was a mistake. Was it too soon, was he too close to his players? All this is speculation the black and white stats of it say simply he failed.

2. The coaching staff was useless. In 2003 when England were a side packed full of experience and leaders the coaching staff was everywhere extolling the various virtues of what they did. This time round they were nowhere to be seen. This is far worse as this side were far younger and far less mature.

3. Be nice to everybody particularly your hosts. Part of the disastrous campaign can be without doubt attributed to its poor perception in the public eye. Whether it be drunken nights out or dodgy dealing with hotel staff.

4. Establish patterns of play. England went to the world cup with no idea of their best side. They did not know which style of rugby they wanted to play they were defensively child like. Offensively they were devoid of any plans.

 Four years between world cups, should give you some ideas of these things. There appeared to be lots of false dawns during Johnson reign but none of it led to anything conclusive. Where now for England, it is hard to say four years is a long time but is it long enough to sort England out. Strong leadership is vital and at the moment that is sadly lacking from the RFU.

In Praise of Seven

The rugby world cup has come and gone again and the trends of world rugby have spun again. In the mid 90's when I had my rugby awakening the trend in the back row was for large back rows. It was not unusual for England to take the field with three number 8's. The reason was bulk was king the bigger the bosh the more games you would win. This continued until the start of the new millennium and was exaggerated by the advent of the professional player and the love of the weights section of the gym. The classic scavenging 7 fell out of flavour for the ball carrying bruiser.

This changed at the end of the 90's when Neil Back finally got the run in the England side he deserved. Not only did he bring tremendous ball scavenging techniques but also great  general ball skills, acting as much as a second scrum half as a back row. He also dominated the ground game. Ever since then the world has been looking for a similar player. The greatest 7 of the modern era is Richie McCaw as mentioned previously without him New Zealand would not be the same side and would not have won the world cup. Australia lost to Ireland partly because they were without David Pocock and partly because Sean O Brian was brilliant. Wales beat Ireland because Sam Warburton was outstanding, tackling anything that moves and winning everything on the floor.

England were awful because they played with three blindside/number 8 type players. They looked ponderous because without a link player they could not get their game going the backs were getting slow recycled ball. That led to ponderous and slow movements in the back line.

The moral of this blog is that any side that finds a great open-side has wrap them in cotton wool and only bring them out on the big occasions. Play without one because you think bigger is better and prepare for trouble.

Where now for English Rugby?

English rugby has some issues, off the pitch the administration of the game is a mess with real issues regarding leadership. On-field issues are the subject of this blog particularly a world cup campaign that never got going.

England have always had tremendous expectations in the rugby world cup, a young side was going down under, they were just starting to come into form. Exciting backs such as Chris Ashton and Ben Foden were starting to lead the back line well. The forwards were developing into a tough unit with young players such as Dan Cole and Courtney Laws combining well with the older players such as Steve Thompson and Andrew Sheridan.

What happened in New Zealand was a disaster England never performed well and expectations were dashed. As so often rugby us a simple game that starts in the forwards. England's forward effort never got going. In the first game against Argentina it could be thought that England were on the way up. However off field antics were endemic of the form on the field. I think Martin Johnson was expecting men of the calibre he played with in 2003 and all the way through his Leicester career. Men such as Neil Back, Will Greenwood and Richard Hill. Instead he got a group of children who could not understand the limits of a good behaviour. The fact that they were not willing to accept that the behaviour off the pitch was not good enough showed on the field, People were hiding on the field, when it required somebody to take a lead when times were hard nobody stepped up.

England now have a major soul searching exercise to carry out. It stars with the coach and filters down. Everybody  involved with the world cup has to consider what went wrong and whether they can take an active part in fixing the situation.

Rugby World Cup Late Summary

Many words have been written about the world cup. Not one journalist has said that the wrong team won the tournament. New Zealand were the outstanding team, even getting over the loss of the talisman Dan Carter. They played classic All Black rugby, not the open rugby that they have played over recent years but the pragmatic, hard-nosed rugby associated with the all blacks of old. Richie McCaw was absolutely outstanding as a leader on and off the field, if he had have gone they would have lost the tournament.

As a tournament it was excellent, without a doubt the first rugby tournament where the minnows have competed. Whether they be from Eastern Europe, Pacific Islands or North America. They all competed with distinction and were only humbled by the tournament format.

The traditional rugby powers had mixed tournaments none more so than the enigmatic French. Losing to Tonga in the group to contributing to the excellent final. They were frustratingly enigmatic but that it is truly the French way. England and South Africa had forgettable tournaments worthy of their own blog.

The Welsh and the Irish were unfortunate to meet each other in the later stages of the tournament. The contrast between the two is stark Wales are on the way up with a good young side and potentially a captain who could be one of their greats. Ireland are on the way down with the end of a golden generation of players including possibly the greatest player to pull ona green jersey, Biaan O Driscoll. Australia have still not learnt to scrummage this is limiting the chances they have of winning the world cup.

As a tournament it was a truly fantastic tournament in a rugby mad country that deseves to hold it again despite the IRB having financial concers.

The Minnows of the Rugby World Cup part 2 (The Pacific Islands)

As the group stages of the rugby world cup come to an end it seems appropriate to discuss the group of smaller nations. Samoa, Tonga and Fiji these are not like the eastern European nations or North American nations where rugby is a past time taken up by a small fanatical minority. Rugby in the Pacific Islands is at the heart of village and even national life. There is probably not a professional team in the world that does not have a Tongan, Samoan or Fijian on their books. There is also a number of international sides that are grateful to have a number of these natural born rugby players in their sides.

These countries do not have a fair deal and if the IRB does anything from the enormous funds it takes from the world cup it should protect the Pacific Island nations. These nations could be viable test entities challenging for glory at world level. The Tongans today beat the French which would happen more regularly if these players could get together more often. They are prevented from doing this because they have the demands of their professional clubs to fulfill. What other sport would handicap potentially good sides just because they do not have financial clout?

RWC 2011 (The smaller nations Romania, Georgia)

It has been three months since I updated this blog, work, laziness etc have contrived to make me some what slow in my posting. However the rugby world cup has appeared and the writing bug has hit me again. After a week we could talk about the established nations of rugby and the problems they might be having the rustiness the etc. In the first week of the world cup it is most appropriate to talk about the smaller nations. The plaudits so far most go east to the Carpathians and Georgia and Romania, one a new nation and one a re-emerging force.

Rugby in Romania is an interesting but tragic story, it was the sport of the repressive communist regime of Ceaucescu and they were good at it. When the dictator fell the game fell but it was still played but not supported it flickered and nearly died, but thanks to the IRB and the rugby brotherhood it survived and in this world cup the Romanian nation exploded onto the scene as a side who might be a struggle to beat with strong organised forwards and solid defense. .

Georgia has rugby union as a national sport based partly on an ancient wrestling game played throughout the country the majority of the team play in the french leagues. The men of Georgia are large men who take pride in their forward ability. They again they played well against the Scots and I for one am looking forward to the clash of these two nations.

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